Three generations of Asian elephants at Saint Louis Zoo

The Saint Louis Zoo's Asian elephant calf, Kenzi, met her St. Louis family for the first time on September 23, 2011.

The three-month-old calf was with her mother Rani, grandmother Ellie, and sisters Jade and Maliha. Three generations!

Rani, age 15, gave birth to the 300-pound baby girl on June 24. Kenzi now weighs over 380 pounds.

Kenzi is thriving under the care of her mother, grandmother and two older sisters. Rani is an excellent, caring and protective mother, and she has incredible support from Ellie, Maliha and Jade. Kenzi is definitely the center of attention for everyone in the herd. Even with elephants, everything revolves around the baby of the family.

During her first days of life, she met her grandmother and older sisters who have warmly welcomed her into the family. The elephant care team has been gradually introducing her to her habitat at River's Edge.

This is Rani's second baby and the third for Raja. Raja was the first elephant ever born at the Saint Louis Zoo in 1992.

Kenzi's name was chosen through a Name the Baby Elephant poll this summer. The Zoo's elephant care staff selected four favorite female names -- June, Zoe, Mya and Kenzi -- and invited the public to vote for their favorite. The Zoo received 128,821 votes, and the name Kenzi won with 69,406 (53.88%) votes cast.

The Saint Louis Zoo has been actively involved with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan® for Asian elephants. Because Asian elephants are so endangered in the wild, Kenzi's birth is critically important to the collaborative conservation work of the Saint Louis Zoo with other North American elephant care facilities. Together AZA-accredited zoos cooperatively manage the breeding of Asian elephants to maintain healthy populations that are as genetically diverse and as demographically stable as possible.

There's no question that the Asian elephant is facing extinction. It's estimated there are only 35,000-50,000 left in the wild. Besides working with the AZA Species Survival Plan, the Saint Louis Zoo also supports conservation projects for Asian elephants in Sumatra and supports the efforts of the International Elephant Foundation.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• elephant
• baby animals
• zoo
• Saint Louis Zoo
• animal families
• cute
• adorable
• wildlife
• endangered
• Asian